Glad you had a fab time Karen . Good to see you back.

lyn

thanks lyn but im knackered today, ive done a report on the hotel and will load pics when i get time

last week before i went i found a bargain to icmeler for a week in oct for 3 of us £312 couldnt believe it as the flights are more and the apt has good reviews lol

will be looking for a weekend city break around end of may now lol

Was this more of a relaxing poolside break Karen or more a cram everything city break type. We are off to salzburg Thursday for 3 nights on a good deal we got with thomsonfly and i see they do good dealsl to marrakech

lyn

Look forward to any recommendations on your time in Marrakech as we plan to go end of Sept with another couple.

Would you say that 3 nights there is enough? Did you have any problems with the food and would you say it's cheap and what about alcohol?

Thanks for your help.

lyn

we did a bit of poolside bathing but mainly seeing as much as possible, thomsonfly are cheap for flights to marrakech ours were £54 each from luton, ive been to salzburg many years ago and thought it was lovely so have a great time

carrie

3 nights isnt a lot of time to see all the sites, we went for 5 days and thought that was about right. we had no probs with the food infact we really enjoyed it, alcohol is very difficult to find, our hotel sold it but it was very dear,so my hubby bought beer form the supermarket and took it back to the room lol, otherwise none of the restaurants we went in sold it, i think the hotels mainly sell it and maybe the dearer restaurants

we went on a horse and carriage around the centre that was good, then went around medina, souks etc and some lovely gardens

we went on an open top bus that was about £8 for 24 hours that you could hop on and off as much as you like, there were 2 buses one took you to all the main tourist places the other took you outside the city to some lovely palm tree areas, both buses can be used with the same ticket

we went to 2 palaces, that was worth visiting, 1 was ruins but had fab views over the city when you went up top of the stairs, the other was rooms but no furniture, but fantastic tiled walls. ceilings, etc ,we enjoyed both palaces

we went on a trip to the mountains ,wow this was great, coach stopped at a berber house (more a shack) we watched them cooking bread and making mint tea then sampled it, it was fascinating, we then went to the bottom of the mountains, stunning views, some of the coach went on a short camel ride, we stopped at a lovely restaurant where lunch was laid on inclusive, again fab views fantastic restaurant, this trip cost us 350 mad each which is about 21.50 but worth every penny,trip was 9.15 am til 4 pm

we choose to eat at inexpensive places and a 3 course meal was around £6, there orange juice is to die for the best ive ever tasted, food was mainly kebabs,chicken,lamb or veg couscous, lemon chicken,loads of pancake,pizza and omelette cafes, depends where you go to what price you pay

hope this helps any more questions fire away

karen

hi Karen

Welcome back, seems like you had a great time, and really made the most of your 5 days visiting all the sites.

yes we did chris, tried to do as much as possible, the only thing was it was a lot hotter than we expected around 72-80 and we didnt take enough summer wear with us lol, apart from that ,fab place to go for a cultural experience lol

Did it make you wish you had kept your booking to Agadir, or do you think it would be quite different there?

no it didnt, think a beach resort would be a lot different to city, the latest reviews arent too bad now, when i initially booked that agadir it was cos i had fancied going to morocco anywhere lol, so glad we changed to turkey and went to marrakech, think this was suited to us as a couple and i know akyaka is great for the family, we know turkey so well,

Thanks for all your help that really helps a lot. Will definately do the mountain trip and use the bus. I usually take some drink with me for the hotel room anyway so not being able to get it wouldn't be a problem as you have prepared me.

Did you find that the hassle you got from traders too much to handle?

We think we will actually stay 4 nights for hardly any difference in cost.

carrie

yes 4 nights would be fine, im used to hassle as we go to turkey 4 -5 times a year but this was worse and my hubby hated it, ladies trying to put henna on you, monkeys being put on you, snakes around your neck, men doing cartwheels in front of you then wanting a tip etc, be careful about taking photos as they want paying, we avoided going near anything and were careful etc lol, but the driving was something else, ive never seen such mad bad drivers every time we crossed a road or zebra crossing i was frightened lol they are nutters !!! if you want me to send some pics to your email pm me

we had a lovely 3 course meal at the maison de couscous near the main sq £6, and planet food was good value nice food neither sold beer, there are places that do but we didnt find any, i booked my hotel through freedomdirect and got it for £29 a night, hotel charges about £85 direct so big difference

karen

Thanks for your help Karen. I don't think my hubby will like the hassle so will be interesting. How did you cope?

At least dinning out sounds good. Scarry roads as well . We have been to Turkey a few times so we have an idea but this sounds as if it will be a lot worse

Would you go back or is it a once in a lifetime kind of trip? Was it difficult to do any shopping or didn't you attempt that?

You've been very helpful and I will pm you for photos.

Thanks

yes they are in your face all the time which is a pain, also they dont talk much english so get practising your french lol, i just kept saying to them mal de tete not sure if spelt right but means head ache in french or you could add grand there too lol, they got the picture, i would turn my back on them be firm etc, its not nice to do this but it is constant hassle and oz (my hubby) hated it, he didnt like the main jemaa sq as the hassle was at its worse and drove him crazy he said thank god you booked a hotel away from this lol, on bus trips too people would come to up selling anything, from tea pots to necklaces even once i had got on the bus they were showing me through the window lol.

i didnt buy much, bought my son a silver stress ring got it half price, bought my little daughter some pretty sequin shoes ideal for dressing up to go with her turkish belly sets lol, hair bits and bobs ,sweets etc, the mother in law a silk scarf and myself a picture, wanted to get a mirror but silly me got the price down after lots of bartering on our last night to realise i had left most of my money in the hotel oops lol, i just couldnt cope with too much hassle and i had been to turkey in oct and had bought lots of gold and leather there, so didnt need much , i did price a gold bracelet for ellie shes 7 and they wanted £106 so no way was i going to pay that , so gave up on gold after that ,think turkeys cheaper and going there again a few times this year

karen

Thanks Karen
I don't think I will tell hubby how bad it is then otherwise he will change his mind about going.

Did you stay in the Atlas hotel? I saw a new review and thought it was you. I think we will either go for the Moroccon or Riad Jonan.

hi

yes we stayed in the atlas, was glad to be out of the main noisey hassly area, good job as my hubby wouldnt have coped lol, everytime we went out he said right im ready for the battle , heads down lol